Green Cloaks
by CrimsonLuna
Summary: It had been so calm at sea. A foolish one would think it good, but anyone that was experienced knew better, that a calm sea was only a foreboding of something terrible. Will was experienced. But even he didn't see just how horrible this storm would make his life. Now on a new land, he discovers a nightmare no human should be able to live through. How will he fare in this new land?
1. Chapter 1

Chap. 1: The Storm

Will was uneasy.

The sea was calm, and to the untrained sailor, this might seem like a good thing. But Will was not untrained. In his 13 years of serves to the Ranger Courps, he'd traveled the rough seas at least 100 times. And he'd come to learn that rough seas were far better than what was to come after calm seas.

And he wasn't the only ne uneasy. Like any Skandian worth their salt, they knew this calm to be a foreboding.

Unfortunately, they couldn't do much about it.

For the last day and a half, they'd been trying to avoid a nasty looking storm off to the east, causing them to go off course of their original destination. Now, at nearly noon, they were surrounded by nothing but calm waters, with not even whisper of wind.

The men were also in a sorry state. Exhausted from all of the heat, little fresh water left, and just from having worked hard on avoiding the storm, they know had no strength to know which way to go. Going back would lead right into the storm, while going forward or to either other way could end up putting them farther out.

The captain, Zach, had decided that they should preserve whatever energy they had left, and hoped to replenish some of it even, by letting them just sit. It was undeniable now that that storm would catch them. Their only hope was that they would have enough energy to keep them alive, while also hoping that the storm might lead them inland.

"Shouldn't have tried avoiding the damn thing…"

Will looked over his shoulder to see that Captain Zach was approaching. Joining the Ranger, the captain leaned against the bulwark of the ship.

"Should have just taken it; must be a lot worse now than it had been." Zach said.

Zach was rather young for a Captain, but well respected for his fighting abilities and his sense of camaraderie. This was what got him the position of captain, even though he wasn't the best at it. Sure, he was better than most anyone that was just a simple fisherman, but he still didn't have the skill the other Skandians had.

Will frowned, trying to think of a way to cheer the man up, but doing so would make him lie, saying he'd made a right call on trying to avoid the storm. Really, even Will knew that the man should have taken it on at the beginning. He'd opted out of saying anything at the time, though, because Skandians liked to know that they knew their business- even if they didn't.

So instead, he went for encouraging.

Well, it's not the time to regret it. Do that after we get through the storm." Will said firmly, and a tad gruffly, unknowingly impersonating his old Mentor, Halt. The words sounded harsh, but to a Skandian, they were like a kindness they didn't feel they deserved.

Straightening, Zach smirked and nodded. "Right, well, better go check on your animals. Wouldn't be good for them to be loose, in the off chance that this gets a bit too rocky."

With that, he walked away, still looking slightly shaken due to what would happen, but with a bit more confidence.

Will smiled. He didn't really know all that much about the captain- or the crew for that matter. That didn't mean he hadn't made quick friends with all of them though. But really, the only ones he truly knew on the ship was his own two friends, Tug, his Ranger Horse, and Banner, his dog.

He'd gotten Banner two years ago, from one of his old friends, a giant of a man, who had taken a great liking to his dog at the time- as she did likewise to the man. Shadow was her name. The two men had made a deal that when, if, Shadow had puppies, Will could have one of them.

Banner was an all-black dog, except for a curved white strip down his right side, which happened to look a bit like banner one might hang in archways and such. So much so did it look like a banner, that Alyss had actually temporarily died the fur there to say "Welcome Back!" when Will had returned from one of his various missions.

Giving the surrounding sea on last worried look, he went to check on his two friends.

It was rather odd to be out on his own really. Sure, he'd always had solo missions, but normally, they were within Araluen. He normally had someone with him for overseas missions.

But this time, there was no one that could join him. Halt had retired, and was getting too old for some things, and really, he just didn't like sailing. Alyss was needed at the castle. Gilan had actually gotten himself into a rather rough spot, having to deal with the consequences of engaging with a woman, and so the planning for the wedding, and his rather tough fiancé- who just happened to be one of Will's old ward mates, Jessie. So he was kept from doing anything more than his main Ranger duties. Horace too was busy, as he was not training the knights of the castle.

And really? The mission wasn't something that required more than one Ranger. Just a simple job of checking on how the Skandians were handling in the treaty.

Sighing, Will opened the gate that held Tug and Banner. He smiled when he saw them though. Banner barked in greeting, and Tug gave a cheerful snort. Despite this, they too looked worried. They were probably just glad they had the comfort of their master. But even they knew that Will could only do so much.

Will smirked, trying to reassure them that it would be alright. Walking over, he made sure to tie them down properly before plopping down and leaning back against the warm barrel belly of tug, yawning as he did so. Banner crept closer and rested his head on Will's lap.

After a few last thoughts or worry, and then the reassuring knowledge that the Skandians would wake him when the storm came, he fell asleep.

Will smiled. The warmth of the sun was pleasantly burning on his face. The sound of waves rolling and crashing with each other reached his hears. He could smell the sweet salty sent of the sea, and to add to the pleasant feeling, there was a soft kiss of wind sweeping gently around him.

But there was something odd.

With that kiss of wind, there was a distinctly unpleasant smell. A smell he was not new to, and made his skin crawl.

Dread building in his gut, he slowly opened his eyes to what was around him.

He immeadeutly looked away, trying to hold back his bile. The ship was a wreck. The Skandians at the rows were in a terrible state of having their arms broken from the force of waves too strong for them. Some, the ones that had the end of the rows, had been impaled by them. Taking a deep breath, Will looked back, trying to find survivors. Zack was nowhere to be seen, and Will could only guess that his rope had snapped and he'd gone overboard- if the broken rope at his position was any indication.

As far as he could see, none had survived.

He heard a whine and spike of dread shot through him as he looked, finding that Banner was pinned under the broken mast.

Running over, Will tried to pull the mast up off the dog, but stopped immeadeutly after, as white hot pain blinded him, and a sharp pain ran through him starting at his right side. Looking down, he found that he had a rather large chunk of wood lodged there, though not horribly deeply. Still, it wasn't allowing for anything that required heavy lifting.

Panicked, he looked around, and saw Tug, thankfully unharmed aide from a few scrapes on his back and side.

"Tug! Help me!" he called, and was surprised to find his voice rather croaky, as if he'd not had anything to drink for a few days. But the Ranger Horse understood and came over, and placed its head on the mast and pushed. Will pushed as much as he could manage. Finally, they managed to push it enough that Will could pull Banner clear.

When Banner was clear, Tug let the mast go, and it rolled back into place.

Will looked Banner over, and what he saw was not pleasant.

It was obvious he had broken rips, at least four. Some of the bones had even come out of the skin. He had lost a lot of blood, as shown by the pool of it where he'd just been. He was too weak to even lift his head, and just barely able to move his eyes, though Will doubted he was able to see all that clearly.

It was obvious this was his faithful friends last moments.

Will's eyes began to prickle with the sting of hot tears. Tug too looked sorrowful as he sniffed at his friend.

After crying there over Banner, who had now died, Will finally got up, as it was getting dark, and he had work to do.

He didn't have time to bury them all, nor did he have the strength for it, though he wished he did. Instead, he found what he could of the whisky and spread it round as much as he could over the ship. He made a few piles for starter fires, and after that was done, set them all on fire.

He got Tug off, as they had crashed next to the shore of some beach. They waited there on the shore, watching as the boat went up in flame. It was the most proper funeral for a Skandian. He'd even made sure that all of them had their weapon in hand.

As for Banner, he'd placed the dogs body on Tug's back when they'd gotten off the ship, and buried him over in the trees at the edge of the beach.

By then, the sky had grown dark. He was just mounting Tug when he heard the sound of great thunder. So great as it that he felt it vibrating in the ground. Blinking he looked up at the sky, but it was too dark now to tell if there were anything storm worthy. Plus, there was no flashing of lightning.

"Strange….." he said, and Tug vibrated with worry. Will looked down at the horse, and patted him on the neck.

"It's okay, boy. Let's just get out of here and find some shelter." He said, and Tug snorted in agreement, and started running.

What Will didn't see was what emerged after they'd left the beach, which was the cause of the "thunder". He also didn't see it as it attacked the burning ship, scooping up the dead Skandians and eating them.

Had he seen it, he might have been more prepared for what was to come.

_**AN: Alrighty! So, this is my first time doing anything with Attack on Titan, and I gotta say, I'm loving this idea so far. I really don't know where exactly its going, but I do have some things in mind.**_

_**I was sorta surprised to find that there was nothing for this, which kinda makes me worry that this won't get that much attention due to no one knowing that there is a Rangers Apprentice crossover for this anime…. Hum, oh well, I like it, and I hope you guys do too. **_

_**Now, I'm going to say this now, I might not update for long periods of time. But never will I abandon a fanfics. I'd have to have died for something like that to happen. It might take me a day to update, it might take me a year. You just can't rush creativity! Plus, I'm in college, and doing this with free time that isn't being spent doing other fun free time stuff that you get to do in college. ^_^**_

_**Now, this doesn't mean I don't want to hear "PLEASE UPDATE SOOON!" because saying that stuff makes me happy that people like it and motivates me to do more. But if I have horrible grammar and spelling, sorry, but for now, that's not really my concern. I'm writing this for fun. I'll try to keep the bad spelling down to a minimum, and if it is there, then it's a typo. Grammar, that'll just have to be fixed every now and then. **_

_**I don't take on batas! No offense to you guys that offer, but I just don't do that. I'd love to be able to, but I can't. I've had too many batas in the past and they either didn't stay consistent with me so that I could have the next chapter up in time, or they would change things in the story. **_

_**So no batas. Again sorry, but it's too much of a hassle. **_

_**So anyway, R&R and tell me what you think! I'll try and have the next chap up soon, but again, no promises.**_

_**Until then, bye!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chap. 2: A Terrifying Discovery**

Will had been riding with Tug for nearly three hours. The thunder had stopped shortly after he left the beach, and he felt relieved that he might not have to deal with a storm for the night. He'd had enough of storms to last him quite a while.

While he'd been riding, he had been trying to recall all that had happened. Unfortunately, he couldn't recall all that much.

He'd woken up at the shouting of Zack, who was crouched over him, telling him that the storm was right on them and that Will needed to "get lively".

When Will got up, he found that Zack must have already tied him down, and felt a tad stupid that he hadn't done so himself before falling asleep.

He had been about to stand up when something big came flying at him due to the rocking of the ship, and hit him in the head. After that, he didn't remember anything, and had to assume that he'd been knocked out, and didn't wake up the rest of the way.

He wished he knew what happened to Zack.

He didn't know if they captain had died or not, and he felt sorrowful at the thought that if he had died, he hadn't had his weapon in hand, as Will had found it, lodged into the wood of the stern.

He had it with him now actually.

Will didn't know why he'd kept it. He had no idea how to use the thing himself, having never been taught as it wasn't a Ranger's weapon. But for some reason, he thought it better to take it with him, instead of leaving it.

Blinking, he realized that he was hunched over, falling asleep. Shaking his head, he sat up and looked around. It was rather dark, but the crescent moon was casting just enough of a glow that he could make out some shapes. One was looming above them to the right, and he stirred Tug towards it, finding that it was a small forest of huge trees. They would make great shelter.

They rode into the trees and Will was astonished to find how thick the trunks were. Never had he seen so many trees this big. There were a few in Araluen, but not many, and never in this many numbers- if there was any even next to each other.

Looking around, he found a place where the ground was hollow under the roots of the tree and went down to check around it for any unwanted critters. Finding it empty, he led Tug down into it and set about making a place to sleep.

He was hungry, but he didn't yet have the energy to make a fire, and he didn't even have any food to cook- all the food on the boat must have been thrown off in the storm-, and didn't have the energy to hunt for anything either. He'd just have to rest for now and hunt later. And he'd have to rely on vegetables and using snares- assuming he could make them that is-, because the wound in his side simply didn't allow for him to use his bow yet.

He'd managed to clean and wrap it, but hadn't had the time yet to get a better look at it and see about stitching it himself. That'd have to be another thing he'd have to deal with the next day.

For now, he needed sleep. So, lying back against Tug, he fell into a slightly less than fitful, but still greatly needed sleep.

* * *

><p>The next day, Will woke to the vibrating body of Tug. Alerted, he sat up, looking around for signs of danger.<p>

At first, he thought it was still dark out, as there wasn't much light coming in through the hole in the roof of the burrow. But then something caught his eyes that told him that it was daylight outside. He looked at it, wondering why it told him this, and then it clicked in his mind.

They were small flowers. At night, when he'd first gotten in there, they were almost closed, and facing the ground. He hadn't really realized he'd taken that kind of information in, but at the same time, wasn't surprised, as a Ranger was taught to do such things, to file away seemingly unimportant information.

But while they had been like that at night, they were now blooming and facing the entrance of the burrow.

He had observed once that plants follow sunlight. The fact that these plants had had the time to find the light and bloom, even when there was a canopy of leaves that blocked some light, showed just how long daylight had been out.

This brought him to wonder just why there was no light at all coming through the hole. It really was dark. Not quite as dark as last night but still dark enough that he had to really focus on anything to see it clearly.

Looking up at the hole, he found himself looking at something rather odd.

Really, he didn't know what he was looking at, though somehow it looked familiar. He knew it hadn't been there the night before- it was completely blocking the hole, after all.

He studied it, trying to think of what it could be. It was glassy, maybe even kinda wet. There were two circles, one big gray one that was so big that the hole didn't even allow all of it to be shown. Then there was a black center to it, which was the second circle.

The more Will looked at it, the more he felt he should know what it was, but something in his mind just didn't want to make a connection to what it could be. Finally though, as he was starting to think he knew what it might be, suddenly something slid over it. On both sides of the circles, something fleshy colored slid over the glassy surface, and closed, and immediately opened up again.

In that moment, Will knew what he was looking at.

Fear clutched at his heart, as he suddenly realized why Tug had been alerting him to danger.

He didn't know just how big the thing really was, but to have an eye that big, it meant the thing had to be pretty big itself, right? What was even scarier was that it didn't look like any animal eye. It looked like a human eye. Huge and rather dull looking, but a human eye nonetheless.

Stifling a scream, as he wasn't sure how the thing would react, he got up and stared to move to the very back of the burrow. He almost tripped with shock when the eye followed him. He had no idea that an eye moving could make that much sound, but it apparently did, and it was a rather sickening sound at that.

But he really didn't get a chance to actually settle at the back of the burrow, as suddenly, the eye pulled back a bit and was suddenly coming forward.

The ground shook, as the things head slammed into the tree and ground. It did it again, and again, and Will could only sit there, watching in terror as it kept trying to get to him. He heard the sound of something clacking, loudly, and realized that it sounded like the amplified sound of teeth coming together at great force.

Finally, he managed to push himself up and retreat to the very back of the burrow, but it wasn't much better.

The thing kept slamming into the tree. It looked as if it didn't even care how much it was hurting itself either, as Will could see bits of blood flying into the burrow, only to evaporate into a thick steam.

And the steam! It was filling the burrow, making it harder to see anything and was so thick and hot, it made breathing hard.

Tug had managed to find Will, and was crouching next to him now, and couldn't seem to stop vibrating.

It continued like this for quite a while, and every once in a while, the burrow filled with light, as the thing pulled away, but the light slowly faded, as the sun was going down.

So too did the speed at which the beast was slamming its head in to the tree, until finally, it stopped.

By then, it was completely dark, and even more so in the burrow than the night before, as the thing was completely blocking the entrance and any light the moon could caste.

After a while of just sitting there, listening to the heavy breathing of the beast, Will finally managed summon up the courage to move, and start feeling around for his flint and steel. Having found them, he then looked for his tinder and kindling. He found some sticks, and placed him in a small pile. Placing the tinder in a small pile, he lit it, and it gave enough of a glow for him to place the kindling around it. Once that too had caught fire, he added the sticks he'd found and soon had a small fire going.

The whole time, he'd not allowed himself to look up at the hole, convincing himself the fire wasn't strong enough to see anything more than three feet away, but now, as it filled the whole burrow, he had no choice.

Looking up, he was once again struck with fear at the size of the thing, though relief was there too as it was closed, though there was still a sliver of the eye visible.

Taking a deep breath, he decided that he needed to test something. What? To see just how asleep it was.

Standing, a bit shaky, he slowly walked forward. In the middle of the burrow now, he found the thing was not reacting at all to his being near. Looking around at the ground, he found a large rock and picked it up. Hefting it in his hand, he decided it would do.

He threw it at the thing, hitting just above the center.

He waited for a reaction.

Nothing happened.

Sighing in relief, he walked forward some more, growing more wary, and slower the closer he got. Finally, his face was only a foot away from it, and realized that the thing emitted a lot of body heat. He found himself studying the large eyelashes, which were about as thick as his arm at their base. Reaching out, he touched one and found it warm, and it felt like tree bark. He briefly wondered how good it would burn.

Shaking his head, he focused again. Now it was time for the more terrifying test. He reached out to touch its eyelid.

Almost immediately, his hand flung back, a hiss of pain escaping his lips.

It was hot! Boiling even!

Clutching his hand, he looked at it and was relieved to find that it wasn't burned like it felt. After all, it felt like he'd stuck his hand into a pot of boiling water. With the knowledge that his hand was fine, he looked back at the thing to find that it hadn't reacted at all to his touch.

It was truly sleeping.

Sighing, he found himself greatly relieved that it was. After all, now he didn't have to worry about it trying to attack him for a good few hours, and he could think properly.

Walking back over to Tug, who had also calmed down considerably, but was still spooked, he sat down.

He was sitting there for a while when his stomach suddenly gave a rather loud grumble. He'd been so focused on his terror, his hunger was the last thing on his mind. Now that he knew he was relatively safe, it made itself known.

He frowned, realizing now what a predicament he was in. He couldn't get out, because the thing was blocking the entrance. The only thing that he could see that looked relatively pleasant to eat was the flowers, and they'd provide little nutrients, forget the fact that there weren't many.

Then he saw something that made him grown, knowing it was really the only thing there was.

Reaching forward, he picked the small beetle up. Studying it as it squirmed in his grip all he could think of was that his life right now was worse than it ever had been- and he'd gone through a lot for one so young.

Shutting his eyes, he threw it back, biting down on it before he could feel it squirming in his mouth. He chewed on it quickly, completely destroying it, so he couldn't tell what was wing, what were legs, and what was shell- really, just to make it seem like he wasn't eating a bug.

Finally he swallowed it. It tasted horrible, really, but he knew that it was all he had at the moment. It also made him hungrier.

Looking around, he found more crawling around in the burrow. Going to Tug he found a pot and its lid and set about finding all of the things, and even ended up finding some worms, which in all honestly made him want to throw up at the prospect of eating them, but he pushed the thought aside, knowing that he would need it.

Finally, he had the pot full of about ten beetles, and three worms, and a few crickets. All of them were squirming around inside the pot, and he could hear the DING! as the crickets bodies hit the sides and roof of the pot.

Placing it over the fire, he cooked them. Looking around in his pack, he found a small bottle of cooking wine, and put just a bit in to the pot, in hopes that it might lessen the horrible taste.

The whole time, his eyes were stinging due to the amount of smoke that was being trapped inside the burrow. Luckily, the beast wasn't completely blocking the entrance, as there was at least a foot a space open that allowed the smoke to escape through. But still, it wasn't enough to lessen Will's pain.

Finally though, he bugs were all cooked, and he took the pot off the fire, setting it to the side, so it could cool down before he started eating.

An hour later, the bugs where all eaten, and all Will could think was that they were utterly disgusting. The cooking wine didn't even help all that much. But his stomach was no longer complaining.

He put out the fire, and sat back, leaning onto Tug, and found that while he wasn't entirely sleepy, his eyes no longer wanted to be open, as the smoke had irritated them too much. So, he closed them and just listened to the sounds around him. After a while, he started to realize something odd about the beasts breathing. Was it just him, or was there an echo…?

But before he could fully concentrate on the thought, he fell asleep.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>AN: Okay, so second chapter down, and so far, not one of my more looked at fics. I'm really not all that surprised though, I guess. But please just stick with me! I promise it'll get good. :P I guess I really should have waited to post the story at all. Normally, I have at least two chapters done before I even think of posting. <strong>_

_**Anyway, R&R and tell me what you think of this chapter. **_

_**For now, I need to get to bed. Next chap. tomorrow, hopefully.**_


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